Hallux Valgus

Recent question on Strengthcoach.com asking if Hallux Valgus is congenital or acquired and what you can do about it, if anything………………

I imagine that it is possible that any kind of deformity is something that can be congenital.
I actually have a congenital bony Dupuytren on both of fingers. It has a name, but I forget what it is, but my grandmother had the exact same thing. It looks like a broken pinky finger, but I was born like that.

An acquired/developed hallux valgus is no different than a pronated foot, buckled knee, or hip IR. They are all functions of valgus collapse, which ultimately is a combination of poor mobility/stability/motor control somewhere in the chain. Where the pink elephant shows up is a function of the person’s inherent or unique stiffnesses (nice word, wow) in the chain or maybe even their footwear.

If you can take the toe and push it back to where it belongs, then yes, it can be fixed.
It is an issue because when you want to propel your body in one plane, and the toe wants to propel you in another plane, you have an energy leak. You will be wasting juice righting yourself before you can propel.
I would say that in my experience, it is not worth more than conservative correcting as most 40″ verts in the NBA probably have this physical limitation. If you are stuck in the FMS or pain persists, then it may be worth looking into.

There are manual techniques that can bring the toe back if the changes have not become bony. I am partial to Mulligan’s Mobilization with Movement there.